


And Suddenly I See You

by FoolynePropaganda



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: College AU, Low-Key Functionism, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Pre-War, Slow Burn, What to do when a really cute Seeker moves in next door, fall in love obviously, oh my god they were neighbors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-28 04:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19804525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoolynePropaganda/pseuds/FoolynePropaganda
Summary: AU: Starscream is invited to study at the Iacon Academy of Science for a vorn, and just so happens to get a place next to a young archivist-to-be.Alternatively: Make OP a Pining Idiot You Gotdamn Cowards





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Vorn - Year  
> Decacycle - Week  
> Cycle - Day  
> Joor - Hour  
> Klik - Minute  
> Nanoklik - Second
> 
> Title taken from Venus by Sleeping At Last. I am neither original or creative.  
> Comments grant me the will to live.

Taking a Cybertronian’s lifespan into concern and combining it with how stagnant their lives seemed to be under the current system, it was an oddity to see someone moving. Especially in this busy and well-kept of a neighborhood.

But alas, it was happening. And the next to his house no less. How curious.

The young archivist moved away from the window o which he was drawn by rumbling of a truck-former just a fence away. He hasn’t been living here that long himself (although his parents kept this particular estate just for him to use during his Academy years), but he was taught it was custom to welcome new neighbors with some sort of culinary treat, or at least a greeting.  
And besides, they were going to live so close to each other, he might as well make a good first impression to avoid future awkwardness.

Stepping out of the house, Orion took a better look at the idle truck-former that was carrying some furniture and personal belongings of the newbie bot. It wasn’t any fancy moving service - in fact, if he was reading the messy southern-form glyphs correctly, it was one of the services the Academy of Science used. For all he knew this might not be just a new neighbor, but a new peer as well, albeit in another section of the academy complexes. Still, it brought a small smile to the young archivist’s face

He was just about to take his first step onto the sidewalk when frustrated grunts emerged from the back of the truck-former. The voice was somewhat raspy, a type of tone you’d hear from a bot whose voice box was damaged by a laryngeal rust infection, except that damage would dissipate the moment a bot’s vox was cleared. Interest peaked, Orion strode over, raising a servo to greet his new neighbor.

After getting closer and another bout of metal clanking and rustling disturbing the normally quet street, he noticed a very distinct shape of wings protruding from the rear, a bright red stripe adorning them by the edges.

...A Seeker.

His new neighbor. Was a Seeker.

Orion felt stunned in his plating. It’s been vorns since Vos went into a feud - some archivists would say almost a war - with Iacon, and closed itself off. After all of that Seekers were an extremely rare sight. Not to mention that treatment of them in Iacon wasn’t something to be desired upon oneself.

Orion’s vents cycled as the pair of wings made another twitch, and their owner burrowed even more deeply into the truck.

“Hey, watch that! Don’t fragging claw my insides out!”, hissed the voice from the cabin’s radio.

“Maybe your men could have been more careful when handling my stuff! There’s _a lot_ of materials I need for the Academy here that are extremely fragile, and if any of these test tubes break inside of you, my talon marks are the _least_ important thing you’ll have to be worried about.”, came a retort at the back.

There was some bitter rumbling voiced from the cabin again before a coherent reply was formed. “Then ask this dumb oaf here to help you. He’s been standing outside for a full three kliks still as the statue of Primus!”

_Slag._

Orion first stuttered, and then was frozen in place when a frowned, dark face nigh physically pierced him with the glare coming out of two bright red eyes, clearly displeased and annoyed at the entire situation.

“Uh, hi, um, I just wanted to s-”

“You wanna help me or not, grounder?” the Seeker immediately cut him off, gesturing with his blue servo. “I’d say please if I weren’t already pissed at trying to get this filthy cabinet out.”

“Um. Yes. Of course.”

Orion immediately strode over to the entrance, where he at last could see what the red seeker was struggling to move. Indeed, a big cabinet, more-so a closet really, seemed to almost be bursting with papers and lab equipment ranging from security gloves and measuring beakers to various book volumes and chemicals sealed tightly in their containers labeled with formulas that to him were hardly easier to recognize than some of the old-glyph scripts. His optics widened at the sight.

“Here”, Orion was basically slapped in the face with two leather-and-chain-laced coverings for the entire forearm. He stared in wonder at them for a moment before turning his attention to the Seeker again, who was just closing them over his own servos.

“Although I’m fairly certain I sealed all of the worse ones safely enough, there’s always a possibility of some nitric acid frying your circuits. And trust me, we don’t want that.”

Orion turned the coverings over in his hands. They opened and closed with a simple non-corrosive zipper, so there shouldn’t be a problem to put them on. When he did so, surprisingly enough, they weren’t too small for him either. He flexed his fingers within the covering and it felt just right. Perhaps the Seeker just knew what he’d be dealing with here.

The bot in question grabbed Orion’s left arm to look at the zipper seam, and it took all out of him not to yelp at the sudden intrusion of his personal space. “Teeth still functional. That’s all set and right, then.”

With a puff, the flyer took a step back to examine Orion helm-to-pede, and then did the same with the cabinet. A sigh escaped from his vents.

“Aight. So, grounder, you seem pretty brawny. If you’d be so kind, at your end of the cabinet there are two noticeable protrusions. It’s the same on mine. You need to take ‘em both and grip as hard as you possibly can because at this point I’m almost convinced that this slag-heap is heavier than me. Be mindful of the glass compartments at the top, though.”

Orion did as he was told, though for a moment he questioned how did the Seeker manage to turn him into a completely silent pushover that quickly.

 _Nevermind that_ , he thought to himself, _I will be a good neighbor and help him out._

“Lift!” came an order , quite fitting for the moment.

Orion grunted and did just so. The flyer was right, the cabinet was heavier than he expected it to be even after seeing all the clutter contained in it. Still, they managed to lift it even if one millimeter off the ground. Orion cold hear the struggling gears of his partner on the other side and silent curses, which, frankly, was understandable. Seeker builds were meant for speed, not for weight-lifting.

As they were exiting the trailer, Orion felt it was a good moment introduce himself at last.

“Anyway, my name is uh, Orion” he said, voice somewhat tense as a consequence of labored supporting struts.

“Starscream” came a choked reply. At that the seeker’s vents cycled audibly. Orion figured the rest of familiarizing would have to wait.

Finally the cabinet was released onto a wheeled tray outside of the trailer, which bent under the weight of it all. Orion really expected it to break completely the very moment. He glanced at the Seeker - Starscream - as he stretched his arms out with a pained hiss. “Frag, my supports are going to be slagging me over for the next couple of days just cause of this, aren’t they.”

“I’m. willing to help if you need anything else. Sorry I didn’t react before, I was very much surprised that...” Orion wasn’t quite sure how to finish the sentence without seeming like an enormously ignorant buffoon. Though, given all he’s displayed so far, it was likely Starscream didn’t think much higher of him.

Who, at the moment, was arching a a brow at him. “That I’m a Seeker. That’s what you wanted to say, wasn’t it?”  
There was some acidity in the tone that made Optimus shift on his pedes.

Starscream blinked and took a few nanokliks to continue. “Well. At least you get a medal for not managing to insult me or my intelligence the moment we meet. So you got that on you, big oaf.”  
“I uh. Was happy to have a new neighbor.”

“Really? My alt gonna ruin that for you, grounder?”

Orion cringed at that, and internally took note of the odd nickname. “No, not at all. It’s more a matter of...well. I’ve never seen a Seeker, not in my entire life. I am... sort of puzzled by curiosity. If that makes sense.”

Starscream’s lips stretched into a grin. “Then feel free to look at the best specimen of his kind!” he exclaimed and... turned on his heel? As if he were a primadonna on stage. Orion chuckled quietly at the display.

“Actually.” He sneaked a glance at the departing truck. “I couldn’t help but notice your service had the Science Academy logo on it. I am personally in the culture and history department, so...”

Starscream’s optics flashed with newfound interest. “Ah, a fellow mech of culture, I see?” He took on a more relaxed pose, resting one of his servos on his waist. “I’m studying chemistry as a subcourse of the xenobiology sector, and I’ve already finished a physics and engineering undergrad in Vos. Vastly different fields, sure, but I’m glad to have a bot who’d be able to show me around so close. Other than my lab partner, that is, but I could never expect something like that from him, to be honest.”

Orion took the obvious bait for continuing the conversation. “What do you mean by that? Who is your lab partner?”

Starscream snickered. “He’s the reason I’m transferring here, pretty much. We had a joint research on some planet together and should be continuing it this vorn. His name is Skyfire and I’m fairly sure I’m the only person he talks to, ever.”  
He made a short pause, “In the end, I’m glad to have some decent neighbors. Could’ve been a worse place, I guess.”

Orion just nodded in response. “You’re uh, always welcome to come over if you need any directions. Or suggestions where to go.”

Starscream grinned again, now staring directy at Orion. “Same for you, big guy. I’ve had my fair share of Chemistry classes at Vos, so I expect to be pretty bored here. Most of the work is going to consist of constructing lab and spaceship equipment for our trip, which is pretty mundane if you ask me. I might require some brawn, or at least a yapping mouth to keep me entertained. That said, have a nice rest of the cycle. I should really start unpacking all of this”

The Seeker then took a hold on the handles of the wheeled tray, and pushed it over to his house. Orion watched him go, and then realized how ridiculous he would look like if Starscream turned around. So he turned on his own heel and walked back to his current home.

Locking the door, he pondered over the new company. Starscream certainly didn’t give the air of a boring mech, but there was also some inherent... excitement, elation when he was talking to him. More likely than not, it was just his overwhelming and often annoying curiosity.

Orion smiled. Yeah, he was definitely bound to tire Starscream out with his questions about Vos and life there at some point, soon more likely than not. After all, it’s been a while since pretty much anyone has seen or talked to a Seeker, and it might be some good grading paper material as well.

Casting a glance at the mess his kitchen and house was... well, he might consider getting everything in order before inviting the flyer to his place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy this fell out to be longer than i had expected. 
> 
> anyway. writing is hard because the perfect tenses make absolutely no sense when you come from a language that has like 3.

When a bot goes to bed at the 7th day of the decacycle, he’s normally to expect being able to sleep in. Especially if said bot is a grad student with volumes of data pads to sift through and memorize for his upcoming colloquial exams.

However, it seemed Primus himself had something else in store for him.

Orion Pax was shaken awake by loud rapping at his door.

“Yo! Grounder! I need your help, are you awake?!”

Orion sighed, murmured something along the lines of “I for sure am now” and slowly rubbed his optics online. Though his visual input was still adjusting and blurry, the light outside didn’t appear to be too strong, which meant the bot disturbing him was quite the early bird.

Bird. Heh.

With that voice, it really wasn’t hard to guess who was banging at the door at such ungodly hours.

Orion waited until another cacophony of knocks arrived before mustering to get up. He opened the window of his bedroom.

“I’m coming!” he announced in a sleepy voice, and the knocking stopped.

Approaching the entrance, he took a glance at himself in the hall mirror. Aside from some everyday scratches, he was fairly presentable. He flicked a small speck of dirt from his windshield on, and opened the door.

As expected, Starscream stood there, feigning some kind of authority despite being an entire helm shorter than Orion. The truck-former wondered where did the Seeker get that kind of feel from him. In truth, though, it might have as well been Orion’s own fault, himself reflecting on his behavior yesterday.

“I do have a name, you know.”

“Listen, big guy- ok, Pax - I really need your help right now. Skyfire promised he’d be coming over to do it, but the slagger hasn’t shown up for the deal and I bet it’s just his big aft “accidentally” crushing the alarm again in his sleep.”

Orion scanned about the empty street. He hadn’t checked the clock himself, but judging by the chirping of the silverwings it had to be around 8 joors. Whoever Skyfire was, he wasn’t about to blame him for bailing on this.

He sighed. “What is it that you need help with?”

The Seeker’s face lit up at once, and it made something in Orion soften. “It’s at my place. Follow me, it’s kinda hard to explain if you haven’t seen it.”

Starscream turned and with three pompous strides crossed to the sidewalk, angling his head to check on Orion. “You coming or not?”

Orion wouldn’t be lying is he said he wasn’t mildly annoyed by how easily this Seeker made claim on him as if he were his personal lackey, or something of the like. However, he also always fell victim to the saying “curiosity killed the cat” and this time it would be no different, to his dismay.

Following after Starscream, he only hoped satisfaction would bring him back as well. Though that didn’t mean he wouldn’t at least try to put his pede down.

“I hope you know just because we’re this close that doesn’t mean I’m going to come running at your every beck and call.”

Starscream simply hummed, as if the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. “I was told communities in Iacon weren’t nearly as close-knit as they are in Vos. Guess I was far too optimistic even in that regard.” He turned around to face Orion. “Still, if you _really_ didn’t want to be here you wouldn’t have followed me in the first place.”

And there was it again. That cheeky, arrogant yet somehow still endearing smirk. Orion dismissively huffed, but was yet to be upset to the point he’d chicken out, already almost at the Seeker’s door.

To add onto Orion’s wonder, instead of letting the door read his EM signature, Starscream pulled out a mechanical key. Given that all estates in Iacon were made by reader-doors on default, that meant Starscream purposefully replaced it sometime yesterday. He kept silent about it for the moment, though, not wishing to intrude the Seeker's privacy.

“Now, of course I wasn’t able to set up everything yesterday, so you should watch out for any loose cables on the way-” It was a very appropriately timed, if not a bit belated warning, because Orion almost tripped on stray wires with his first step.

“-And I haven’t had the chance to check if any chalkroaches or cyberrats remained from this thing’s previous occupant. Haven’t gotten bitten in recharge yet, though, so I’m assuming it’s good.”

Orion was about to protest that statement when a sudden green pulse of light illuminated the hall, accompanied by dampened mechanical clattering.

Starscream’s wings at once shot up, nearly smacking Orion in the process. The Seeker spent a nanoklik listening before simply exclaiming:

“Frag.”

He grabbed Orion’s arm and yanked him forwards with startling force, as the seeker began pacing quickly towards the open room where the light was still pulsing from.

It should be clear that at this point, Orion was very, __very__ afraid. 

“And __this__ type of slag is why I should have had Skyfire over! But no, Starscream __the Magnificent__ can __surely__ deal with setting up __the__ __entire lab on his fragging own__ , can’t he?! I really hate that dumb aft-head shuttle sometimes.”

And with that Orion’s arm was pulled so hard he tripped for the second time since coming into the house, managing to get his balance back only by clutching the doorframe. While being just about to give the Seeker what he had coming (which for the most part consisted of a hefty rant about disrespect and semantics he had a feeling Starscream doesn’t give a frag for regardless), he looked into the lab-to-be.

To say it was a mess would be an underestimation.

Catastrophe? Very likely.

In the middle of the quite large room sat a water tank probably around some five dozen cubic meters in volume. Something in the back of his processor was telling Orion that whatever Starscream was researching was supposed to be contained within it, as the tank itself was completely empty, aside from a thin layer of clear water at the bottom.

The lab, though? Covered in a layer of fluorescent green goo.

“Oh, Primus”, was the only thing he could muster.

“Trust me, if Primus was real he wouldn’t have allowed me and Skyfire to create these things.” Starscream said, grabbing a mop from the left side of the room and shaking some of the slime off of it,.

Said slime upon being thrown off loudly hissed and scrunched up, tendrils emerging from its body held up in a clearly hostile display.

Orion in-vented. “You created them? What the frag are they?!”

Starscream glanced at him playfully. “Aw, swearing already?” Seeing the disapproving scowl on Orion’s face, his expression fell and he cleared his vox box . “Look. We picked up some organic thingies off a passing meteorite. Their structure was damaged, so we had to fix them and amplify it with...eh, our...personal inventions.”

One patch of goo leaped at Starscream’s pede, emitting a high pitched squeal. He just kicked it off. “They have a short temperament, but being organic, they’re like 70% water. A nuisance to put back in the tank, but nothing dangerous.”

Orion then took into notice the mop in Starscream’s servo. “So what are we supposed to do? Push them back into the tank?”

“Push them and seal it in.” Starscream clarified. “You see, these things used to convert dissolved gasses and minerals into... well, gaseous gases on their home planet. Now they are doing that but more efficiently and in larger quantities thanks to their “upgrades”. Long story short, I can’t install the filter while paying attention to these bastards at the same time. Last time I gave them a solid cap they just blew up the entire tank after some two joors because of the pressure inside.”

“Uh-huh,” Orion realized this was going to be a long morning. “And how exactly do you expect me to help?”

Starscream handed him another mop. “I really need help in getting them back together right now. Please be careful, though, organics may be disgusting but they’re far less resilient than we are. You can kill some of them, but not too many. We would be in big trouble if their reproductive material information shrinks down. Mine and Skyfire’s entire thesis depends on these.”

Orion grabbed it somewhat reluctantly, examining the room covered from wall to wall with the strange organics. Distressed, they were starting to slowly crawl around. There were less than a hundred in numbers, but still oddly intimidating to look at, each roughly the size of Orion’s forearm.

“Wait a bit here. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Starscream went in first, swiping the mop steadily across the floor, which produced a faint high-pitched sound that aggravated the slimes. Two then slithered to and latched onto the mop, after which he swiftly swept upwards and threw them into the tank.

“There’s just enough water and moisture there to sustain them while we catch the rest. How about we split into opposite corners of the room?”

Orion merely nodded as he followed inside, moving towards the right corner, immediately feeling tricked as there were obviously more tables and cabins the slimes could have hid themselves under. He swiped in quick, short movements, which heightened the pitch as well as the volume. The awful creatures crawled forward, three of them grabbing onto the mop with their creepy tendrils, and with a swift movement they were transferred into the tank. To which Starscream added a dozen more in the meantime.

After a couple more minutes, to Orion’s relief, all but a handful of them remained hissing and clinging to the corners. Starscream huffed, throwing the lid over the to prevent the already trapped ones from escaping, at least for a few kliks. Surprisingly enough they managed to get most of them alive - if not “bruised” , as Starscream expressed was the organic equivalent of “dented”.

Orion rolled his shoulders, and went for a green blob that just hid itself under the corner wheeled cabinet. He moved the piece of furniture aside, preparing to strike, when something behind sprayed him with a hot, scalding liquid.

He yelped, clutching his forearm only to feel the burning sensation on his palm as well. Orion growled further, seeing his nanites bubble and burst. He rushed to the laboratory sink, turning the solvent on, his breathing slowing down as the pain dissipated along with the dissolving liquid.

Starscream was at his side in the blink of a headlight. “What happened?!” He looked, concerned, at the burn on Orion’s arm and servo. “What kind of acid did you spill?”

Orion slurred through his teeth. “I didn’t spill anything. One of your playthings here just squirted it at me.”

The Seeker peeked at the corner Orion had been standing at for any sign of movement. The position of the cabinet was crooked, but whatever attacked him must have crawled back under again.

He took Orion’s uninjured servo in his own, focusing his optics on Orion’s own.

“Hey, listen, I don’t know what’s there. At all. But those burns you have are just surface nanite, I can treat them easily on the spot. I know it hurts, but we should really finish whatever that thing is before it destroys some important equipment.”

Orion pulled away, face twisted in a scowl and glaring at the Seeker. “No. You’ve been pulling me by the nasal far too long, Starscream, and I am sick of it. Just because your lab buddy wasn’t able to arrive doesn’t mean I’ll clean up your slag, it’s not my damn responsibility. I’m done. I’m leaving.”

He tore his servo from Starscream’s unresisting grip and turned away, heavy paces leading him out of the room.

_Annoying fragging Seeker. I was robbed of the sleep I desperately need just so I could get a pretty burn. Wonderful. Serves me right when I get so easily dragged into everything. Should have listened to-_

He was stopped in his tracks by a loud, distorted screech coming from the lab.

Orion suddenly felt himself swallowing an entire servo-sized ball of guilt.

He hurried to the room yet again, finding Starscream on the floor, servos covering his front and helm, as well as an orange sentient slime just a couple of meters away, clicking angrily and surrounded by pieces of the green blob Orion was aiming for earlier. Shaking at this point, he was torn between helping helping him or crushing the little beast first. The thing however, clicked louder and started creeping towards Starscream once more.

He bolted forwards, kicking it away and then crushing it beneath his pede. The acid seeping from the orange slime made the floor below itself sizzle.

“Well look who comes to save me. Slaglord in sensitive plating. Frag you,” Starscream managed before yowling at the corroding biting at his chest, helm and cockpit. He had been in the way of a full spray.

Orion knelt before him, embarrassed and worried and angry at both Starscream and himself. “I’m...really sorry.”

Starscream hissed. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it now, big oaf. At least you got off easy. You better give me a servo now, at least. My medicine kit for this kind of slag is at the top of the cabinet by the door.”

Orion gave an apologetic mechanical chirp as he went to search for the kit. Fortunately a big white box with a clear medical approvement stamp wasn’t something one could easily miss.

Getting the base nanite spray out, as well as some purified solvent and cloth, he stooped closer to the Seeker this time.

“Move your servos away please.”

Starscream whined. “It hurts.”

Orion bit his lip. “Come on, it can’t be that bad,” he said knowing it was very much likely a lie.

Starscream took a hefty cycle in, and steadily moved his arms away from his torso.

Alright, so the discoloration upon his helm and chest was certainly something to be desired. The nanites there were stripped all the way through the metal, some even liquefied. He decided to mention none of it as he dipped a cloth into the solvent.

“Stay calm, this won’t hurt nearly as much as the acid did.”

The Seeker grumbled. “You have the nerve telling me to “stay calm”. It’s not as if this wasn’t your fault in the first place.”

“You can’t say you didn’t have it coming, though.” Orion retorted snarkily, a ghost of a grin on his face.

Starscream turned his head away, stubborn enough to refuse to speak of it any longer as Orion worked at the bared plating. To say the ensuing silence was awkward would indeed be an underestimation. Orion just accepted it, figuring it’s only natural for Starscream’s sour personality to just play metaphorically dead to an uncomfortable situation.

The sprayed nanites, to his fortune, quickly adapted to the plating and shifted in hue until the difference was almost invisible. It would take a few joors for them to stick.

Orion refocused on the helm that was still unyielding in its devotion to ignore him.

“Starscream, can you please show me your head vent? I know it was sprayed as well, I saw the patch.”

There was no answer. If his vents weren’t still running at the same pace, Orion would have assumed the Seeker had fallen asleep. The thought granted him a small chuckle.

“I know that has to hurt, please get up and turn your helm.”

Starscream at last did as requested, but with a frown on his plates that absolutely had to be forced to some extent. “Apologize. Fully.”

Orion dipped another, clean cloth into the solvent. “What?”

“You heard me,” he complained, consciously keeping his gaze away from Orion as his servo approached the vent. “You left and let that thing attack me. I wouldn’t have to be going through this undignified procedure if it weren’t for you.

“Need I remind you that if you had been treating me better, or perhaps asked in a more polite manner, I wouldn’t have felt the need to storm out like that.”

Starscream squirmed once he started rubbing the burn.

“Besides, what kind of creature even was that? It definitely isn’t like the other...things, you keep in the tank.”

The Seeker stole a glance at the tank. “I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was harassing the others in the tank, since they seem to be far more peaceful now. Perhaps it mutated, or was just a pathogen that snook in along with our sample from the meteorite.” He finally looked back at Orion. “You’re changing the topic regardless. Why am I not hearing that apology?”

Orion, now admittedly more amused than annoyed by the Seeker’s strange demeanor, figured he’d rather indulge him. “Alright. Starscream, whose name quite fits his fearful vocalizations, I am very deeply sorry for letting a strange extra-terrestrial puddle of goo spray you with acid. Do you want me to kiss the bo-boo?”

Starscream outright laughed, pushing Orion’s hand away for the moment.

“You’re good, Pax.”

The “undignified procedure” ended in both of them sporting a small quirk at the edges of their lips as Orion finished patching up the exposed vent.

Cleaning up and installing the filter wasn’t that long of a process, or at least it seemed not to be, because when Orion returned to his home it had already been past lunch time. The time spent with the odd Seeker passed fairly quickly. Too quickly.

Orion, for all that, currently just skittered over to his room after having a refuel, dropped onto the berth and promptly initiated recharge - he’d worry about that later.


End file.
